Neighbors want new name for Kit Carson Mountain

CRESTONE, Colo. (AP) – Neighbors of Kit Carson Mountain in southern Colorado want to change the peak’s name because of concerns about the Indian-fighting frontiersman.

Neighbors and Saguache County officials have signed petitions to rename the 14,165-foot peak Mount Crestone.

Kit Carson was a rancher and trapper who helped crush a Navajo uprising during the Civil War. Carson’s name has been attached to a Colorado county and its largest military base, but some residents in the San Luis Valley say they’d rather not have Carson’s name on the mountain.

The Colorado Mountain Club and the U.S. Forest Service oppose the change. The (Colorado Springs) Gazette reports that the U.S. Board of Geographic Names will decide whether to rename Kit Carson Mountain.